Relaxing Breeze (Fuwari) was a musumeyaku feature published in GRAPH, where an interview would take place at a cafe. It was focused on offstage topics such as how they destress or what they do on days off.

Sakihi’s was published in the February 2016 issue.

Relaxing Breeze – Sakihi Miyu

First, why don’t you order!
Ah, what should I pick! Let’s see…the Ice Cafe Chocolat and…what to do…hmmm…right! The “Strawberry Cream Cheese Waffle”! It interested me as soon as I saw the menu.

What else were you considering?
I like adzuki-bean paste too, so the adzuki french toast looked interesting. And the buttered waffle is simple but it looks really nice…
(Manager calls from the back: ‘It’s not too late to change your mind~’)
Nonono! My heart’s set on this! (laughs)

Today we’re doing a photoshoot at this cafe, so…
This wood design…since I grew up in Miyagi I was surrounded by trees all the time, so this atmosphere is really calming. It feels like a real day off (laughs)

Your outfit is especially casual today.
Since we’re in a cafe, and I like soft color palettes, I settled on this. It’s like ‘OK, where do I want to go today~’ (laughs), the image of something you’d wear on a day off…how to describe it. Nothing constricting…and although it’s warm, it has really nice airflow, I guess? Ahahaha! (laughs)

(laughs). That loose-fitting knit piece is really lovely.
I really like knits. I didn’t have any sleeveless knits before, but you see them a lot in magazines lately, right? I bought this one just recently, and I thought ‘this is my chance!’ And it turned out it really matched the atmosphere of this cafe somehow…hahaha. For my hair too, I did it how I might on a day off, with it all curled and just loosely fastened; it’s like I’m letting my head rest a bit too. I also wanted to try a different style from a typical Takarazuka hair arrangement, following mainstream trends that an ordinary woman might like. It seems like loosely fastened styles like this are popular currently, so I tried it out at home thinking I might wear something like that to rehearsals…I think about Takarazuka all the time (laughs). But I like Takarazuka, see! (laughs)

Do you go to cafes by yourself?
I doooo~ But only when I’m in a more relaxed mindset. Like the day after a show’s closing performance… Ah, but recently, after the closing performance of One Night of Stars in Tokyo, I felt such a strong sense of loss. Although it’s hard for me to part with any show, that one… I think maybe it was because the part of Sen was so hard, and I struggled with the show so much, but afterwards I felt a mysterious sense of accomplishment.

(The waffle arrives)
Wow, it smells so good! (To the manager) Thank you~! It’s so tasty! Ah…it melts in my mouth…I’m so happy…

What do you usually order at a cafe?
I get basic things a lot of the time, like simple sweets or handmade cakes, with drinks.I’ll go to pancake or french toast places too, but rather than just blindly following trends, I’m more like “everyone says this thing is so wonderful, I wonder what it’s really like” and shyly go, catching up with the times some time later (laughs). But for me, the main thing about going to a cafe is the conversation. I love talking shop, so I’ll go with other Snow Troupe members, and of course my classmates, but also Sahana [Mako]-san or from other troupes Kagetsu [Miyako]-san, or Shirayuki [Sachika]-san, or Chinami [Karan]-san… Being able to talk to people I respect is just so enriching to me, so I really feel like I need those times.

On your days off, do you prefer spending the day alone, or in a large group?
I love…is it okay to say that? Well, I love being alone (laughs). I’ll go shopping alone, of course, or if there’s a movie I’m interested in, I’ll go myself to a really late showing.

What sort of movies have you seen recently?
To be honest…I haven’t been able to go very much. The most recent time I saw a movie, which was a little while ago, was Pixar’s Inside Out. I was really interested because I was thinking ‘how will the film actors perform these voice acting roles?’ Ootake Shinobu-san was so amazing! Actually, I make sure to see every Disney movie. I also watch a lot of documentaries like Oceans. I love seeing nature footage on the big screen. But if there’s a closeup of a bug or something I’ll be like… (hiding her face) (laughs). I’m like ‘Okay, I’m fine with just the sound here~’ (laughs)

You don’t like bugs, then?
I don’t (laughs). But I love nature, so on my days off sometimes I’ll just sit and space out at a park (laughs). I’ll watch the little kids playing around, or the old grampas fishing in the lake… During rehearsals and performances, I can only get outside during morning and evening, if I can just sit and feel the mid-day sun I’m like ‘Ah~ the time is flowing differently~’. But I’m not suffering from having a full daily schedule. I  think it’s good that I’m not free every day. It’s because it’s only occasional that those times become so happy, I think.

Do you take a lot of leisure time?
No…actually, often the senior actresses will tell me ‘make sure you relax on this day off, ok?’… They’ll tell me to make sure I remember to take time for myself. I’m the type who will end up getting totally focused on whatever my goal is.

So, how do you relax?
Hm…I’ll listen to music I like, not just music from shows. I really like Hakase Tarou-san. I love the sound of violin and string instruments, so I’ll listen to things like that, or Hisaishi Joe-san’s music. I’ll fling the window open, and let the fresh air flow in, and just let a CD play for ages (laughs). I also like Taylor Swift.

If you had several days’ vacation, what would you like to do?
Hm…well, although I wouldn’t be able to decide this just on my own…I’d like to go on a trip with my family! We used to go on vacation a lot, with the whole family, my parents and my little sister. If I think about it now, for my parents, who were both working, those holidays must have been their precious time off, but we would always go out so I came to feel that of course holiday time was family time. But now I understand that it wasn’t so simple, and I want to give back to my parents somehow, so I think all the time that I’d like to take them somewhere.

If you had 3 or 4 days to spend together with the whole family, where would you like to go?
Wah~! That would make me so happy~! Well, my parents like skiing. This is like 10 years ago now, but once, my mother said out of the blue ‘It would be so nice to go to the big slopes of Daisen, in Tottori’ and my father said ‘it would!’ but they were never able to go. I want to make that dream come true for them. For the longest time I’ve had that memory: “It’s written as ‘big mountain’ but it’s read ‘Daisen’! Okay! That’s where mom wants to go!” I want to go there while we’re all still in good health. …Ah~I ended up talking so much today. Thank you so much!